Fine Leveling Of Large Carousel Based Susceptor

ABSTRACT

Pedestal assemblies with a thermal barrier plate, a torque plate and at least one kinematic mount to change a plane formed by the thermal barrier plate are described. Susceptor assemblies and processing chambers incorporating the pedestal assemblies are also described. Methods of leveling a susceptor to form parallel planes between the susceptor surface and a gas distribution assembly surface are also described.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/366,337, filed Jul. 25, 2016, the entire disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to leveling rotationalcomponents. In particular, embodiments of the disclosure are directed toapparatus and methods to level a susceptor in a batch processingchamber.

BACKGROUND

In carousel based ALD applications, a small gap (e.g., a few mm) betweenthe susceptor and injector is used for deposition uniformity. Minimumflatness and parallelism of both the susceptor and injector areimportant for processing uniform ALD films. Flatness of a large siliconcarbide coated graphite susceptor during manufacturing is difficult tocontrol because of gravity and warpage from purification and at leasttwo high temperature silicon carbide coatings. Additionally, theproperties of a graphite plate vary with the direction of slicing of agraphite billet.

Flatness of the susceptor can affect in-wafer uniformity of filmthickness and resistivity. However, poor parallelism of susceptor waferplane to pedestal plane gives rise to axial runout and wafer-in-batchnon-uniformity. Flatness and parallelism can be minimized by controllinggraphite substrate machining and fixturing during high temperaturesilicon carbide coatings. However, the yield and control is low becauseof the use of a high temperature process and can be difficulty tocontrol.

Currently, current susceptor-motor assembly hardware runoutspecifications are hard to meet with low yield of usable susceptor-motorassembly hardware. Axial runout results from poor parallelism of pocketsplane to bottom pedestal plane. Current carousel batch processingchambers may use gap camera to measure the outer diameter runout. Whenthe susceptor axial runout is high, the wafers are not equidistant tothe injector plane in the vertical direction and causes wafer toinjector distances to vary during processing.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for apparatus and methods toprovide increased parallelism of the susceptor to injector planes and/orminimizing runout of the susceptor.

SUMMARY

One or more embodiments of the disclosure are directed to pedestalassemblies comprising a thermal barrier plate, a torque plate and atleast one kinematic mount assembly. The thermal barrier plate has a topsurface and a bottom surface defining a thickness. A center openingextends through the thickness of the thermal barrier plate at a centerof the thermal barrier plate. At least one torque opening extendsthrough at least the bottom surface of the thermal barrier plate, and atleast one leveling hole extends through the thickness of the thermalbarrier plate. The at least one leveling hole is located at a distancefrom the center opening. The torque plate is below the thermal barrierplate and has a top surface and a bottom surface defining a thickness. Acenter opening extends through the thickness of the torque plate. Atleast one torque rod extends from the top surface of the torque plateand is aligned with the at least one torque opening in the thermalbarrier plate. The kinematic mount assembly is positioned within atleast one leveling hole in the thermal barrier plate and comprises amounting stud having an inner surface, an outer surface and a lengthdefined by a top surface and a bottom surface. The mounting stud issized to fit within the leveling hole. The kinematic mount assemblyincludes a lockdown screw positioned to contact the inner surface of themounting stud and move along the length of the mounting stud.

Additional embodiments of the disclosure are directed to susceptorassemblies comprising a susceptor, a thermal barrier plate, a torqueplate and at least one kinematic mount assembly. The susceptor has a topsurface and a bottom surface defining a thickness with a plurality ofrecesses formed in the top surface sized to support a substrate forprocessing. A center opening extends from the bottom surface of thesusceptor at least partially through the thickness. At least onesusceptor torque opening extends from the bottom surface of thesusceptor and at least three susceptor leveling holes extend through thethickness of the susceptor. The thermal barrier plate has a top surfaceand a bottom surface defining a thickness. The top surface of thethermal barrier plate is positioned adjacent to the bottom surface ofthe susceptor. A center opening extends through the thickness of thethermal barrier plate at a center of the thermal barrier plate. At leastone torque opening extends through the thickness of the thermal barrierplate and is aligned with the at least one susceptor torque opening. Atleast three leveling holes extend through the thickness of the thermalbarrier plate; each leveling hole aligned with a leveling hole in thesusceptor. The torque plate is below the thermal barrier plate and has atop surface and a bottom surface defining a thickness. A center openingextends through the thickness of the torque plate and is aligned withthe center opening in the thermal barrier plate. At least one torque rodextends from the torque plate through the at least one torque opening inthe thermal barrier plate and into the at least one susceptor torqueopening. At least three kinematic mount assemblies are positioned indifferent leveling holes in the thermal barrier plate. Each kinematicmount assembly comprises a mounting stud having an inner surface, anouter surface and a length defined by a top surface and a bottomsurface. The mounting stud is sized to fit within the leveling hole. Thekinematic mount assemblies include a lockdown screw positioned tocontact the inner surface of the mounting stud and move along the lengthof the mounting stud.

Further embodiments of the disclosure are directed to methods ofleveling a susceptor. The methods comprise turning a lockdown screw tomove the lockdown screw within a mounting stud of a kinematic mountassembly. The movement of the lockdown screw causes a relative change indistance between a thermal barrier plate connected to the kinematicmount assembly and a torque plate, so that a plane formed by a topsurface of the thermal barrier plate tilts relative to a plane formed bya top surface of the torque plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a batch processing chamber inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a partial perspective view of a batch processing chamber inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a batch processing chamber inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a portion of a wedge shaped gasdistribution assembly for use in a batch processing chamber inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of a batch processing chamber inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of a pedestal assembly in accordance withone or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a susceptor assembly in accordance with one or moreembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a susceptor assembly in accordance with one or moreembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a mounting stud of a kinematic mount assembly in accordancewith one or more embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a pedestal assembly with kinematic mount assembly inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 11 shows a pedestal assembly with kinematic mount assembly inaccordance with one or more embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before describing several exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, it isto be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the details ofconstruction or process steps set forth in the following description.The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced orbeing carried out in various ways.

A “substrate” as used herein, refers to any substrate or materialsurface formed on a substrate upon which film processing is performedduring a fabrication process. For example, a substrate surface on whichprocessing can be performed include materials such as silicon, siliconoxide, strained silicon, silicon on insulator (SOI), carbon dopedsilicon oxides, amorphous silicon, doped silicon, germanium, galliumarsenide, glass, sapphire, and any other materials such as metals, metalnitrides, metal alloys, and other conductive materials, depending on theapplication. Substrates include, without limitation, semiconductorwafers. Substrates may be exposed to a pretreatment process to polish,etch, reduce, oxidize, hydroxylate, anneal and/or bake the substratesurface. In addition to film processing directly on the surface of thesubstrate itself, in the present disclosure, any of the film processingsteps disclosed may also be performed on an under-layer formed on thesubstrate as disclosed in more detail below, and the term “substratesurface” is intended to include such under-layer as the contextindicates. Thus for example, where a film/layer or partial film/layerhas been deposited onto a substrate surface, the exposed surface of thenewly deposited film/layer becomes the substrate surface.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the terms“precursor”, “reactant”, “reactive gas” and the like are usedinterchangeably to refer to any gaseous species that can react with thesubstrate surface.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of a processing chamber 100 including a gasdistribution assembly 120, also referred to as injectors or an injectorassembly, and a susceptor assembly 140. The gas distribution assembly120 is any type of gas delivery device used in a processing chamber. Thegas distribution assembly 120 includes a front surface 121 which facesthe susceptor assembly 140. The front surface 121 can have any number orvariety of openings to deliver a flow of gases toward the susceptorassembly 140. The gas distribution assembly 120 also includes an outeredge 124 which in the embodiments shown, is substantially round.

The specific type of gas distribution assembly 120 used can varydepending on the particular process being used. Embodiments of thedisclosure can be used with any type of processing system where the gapbetween the susceptor and the gas distribution assembly is controlled.While various types of gas distribution assemblies can be employed(e.g., showerheads), embodiments of the disclosure may be particularlyuseful with spatial gas distribution assemblies which have a pluralityof substantially parallel gas channels. As used in this specificationand the appended claims, the term “substantially parallel” means thatthe elongate axis of the gas channels extend in the same generaldirection. There can be slight imperfections in the parallelism of thegas channels. In a binary reaction, the plurality of substantiallyparallel gas channels can include at least one first reactive gas Achannel, at least one second reactive gas B channel, at least one purgegas P channel and/or at least one vacuum V channel. The gases flowingfrom the first reactive gas A channel(s), the second reactive gas Bchannel(s) and the purge gas P channel(s) are directed toward the topsurface of the wafer. Some of the gas flow moves horizontally across thesurface of the wafer and out of the process region through the purge gasP channel(s). A substrate moving from one end of the gas distributionassembly to the other end will be exposed to each of the process gasesin turn, forming a layer on the substrate surface.

In some embodiments, the gas distribution assembly 120 is a rigidstationary body made of a single injector unit. In one or moreembodiments, the gas distribution assembly 120 is made up of a pluralityof individual sectors (e.g., injector units 122), as shown in FIG. 2.Either a single piece body or a multi-sector body can be used with thevarious embodiments of the disclosure described.

A susceptor assembly 140 is positioned beneath the gas distributionassembly 120. The susceptor assembly 140 includes a top surface 141 andat least one recess 142 in the top surface 141. The susceptor assembly140 also has a bottom surface 143 and an edge 144. The recess 142 can beany suitable shape and size depending on the shape and size of thesubstrates 60 being processed. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, therecess 142 has a flat bottom to support the bottom of the wafer;however, the bottom of the recess can vary. In some embodiments, therecess has step regions around the outer peripheral edge of the recesswhich are sized to support the outer peripheral edge of the wafer. Theamount of the outer peripheral edge of the wafer that is supported bythe steps can vary depending on, for example, the thickness of the waferand the presence of features already present on the back side of thewafer.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the recess 142 in the topsurface 141 of the susceptor assembly 140 is sized so that a substrate60 supported in the recess 142 has a top surface 61 substantiallycoplanar with the top surface 141 of the susceptor 140. As used in thisspecification and the appended claims, the term “substantially coplanar”means that the top surface of the wafer and the top surface of thesusceptor assembly are coplanar within ±0.2 mm. In some embodiments, thetop surfaces are coplanar within 0.5 mm, ±0.4 mm, ±0.35 mm, ±0.30 mm,±0.25 mm, ±0.20 mm, ±0.15 mm, ±0.10 mm or ±0.05 mm.

The susceptor assembly 140 of FIG. 1 includes a support post 160 whichis capable of lifting, lowering and rotating the susceptor assembly 140.The susceptor assembly may include a heater, or gas lines, or electricalcomponents within the center of the support post 160. The support post160 may be the primary means of increasing or decreasing the gap betweenthe susceptor assembly 140 and the gas distribution assembly 120, movingthe susceptor assembly 140 into proper position. The susceptor assembly140 may also include fine tuning actuators 162 which can makemicro-adjustments to susceptor assembly 140 to create a predeterminedgap 170 between the susceptor assembly 140 and the gas distributionassembly 120.

In some embodiments, the gap 170 distance is in the range of about 0.1mm to about 5.0 mm, or in the range of about 0.1 mm to about 3.0 mm, orin the range of about 0.1 mm to about 2.0 mm, or in the range of about0.2 mm to about 1.8 mm, or in the range of about 0.3 mm to about 1.7 mm,or in the range of about 0.4 mm to about 1.6 mm, or in the range ofabout 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm, or in the range of about 0.6 mm to about1.4 mm, or in the range of about 0.7 mm to about 1.3 mm, or in the rangeof about 0.8 mm to about 1.2 mm, or in the range of about 0.9 mm toabout 1.1 mm, or about 1 mm.

The processing chamber 100 shown in the Figures is a carousel-typechamber in which the susceptor assembly 140 can hold a plurality ofsubstrates 60. As shown in FIG. 2, the gas distribution assembly 120 mayinclude a plurality of separate injector units 122, each injector unit122 being capable of depositing a film on the wafer, as the wafer ismoved beneath the injector unit. Two pie-shaped injector units 122 areshown positioned on approximately opposite sides of and above thesusceptor assembly 140. This number of injector units 122 is shown forillustrative purposes only. It will be understood that more or lessinjector units 122 can be included. In some embodiments, there are asufficient number of pie-shaped injector units 122 to form a shapeconforming to the shape of the susceptor assembly 140. In someembodiments, each of the individual pie-shaped injector units 122 may beindependently moved, removed and/or replaced without affecting any ofthe other injector units 122. For example, one segment may be raised topermit a robot to access the region between the susceptor assembly 140and gas distribution assembly 120 to load/unload substrates 60.

Processing chambers having multiple gas injectors can be used to processmultiple wafers simultaneously so that the wafers experience the sameprocess flow. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the processing chamber100 has four gas injector assemblies and four substrates 60. At theoutset of processing, the substrates 60 can be positioned between theinjector assemblies 30. Rotating 17 the susceptor assembly 140 by 45°will result in each substrate 60 which is between gas distributionassemblies 120 to be moved to an gas distribution assembly 120 for filmdeposition, as illustrated by the dotted circle under the gasdistribution assemblies 120. An additional 45° rotation would move thesubstrates 60 away from the injector assemblies 30. The number ofsubstrates 60 and gas distribution assemblies 120 can be the same ordifferent. In some embodiments, there are the same numbers of wafersbeing processed as there are gas distribution assemblies. In one or moreembodiments, the number of wafers being processed are fraction of or aninteger multiple of the number of gas distribution assemblies. Forexample, if there are four gas distribution assemblies, there are 4xwafers being processed, where x is an integer value greater than orequal to one. In an exemplary embodiment, the gas distribution assembly120 includes eight process regions separated by gas curtains and thesusceptor assembly 140 can hold six wafers.

The processing chamber 100 shown in FIG. 3 is merely representative ofone possible configuration and should not be taken as limiting the scopeof the disclosure. Here, the processing chamber 100 includes a pluralityof gas distribution assemblies 120. In the embodiment shown, there arefour gas distribution assemblies (also called injector assemblies 30)evenly spaced about the processing chamber 100. The processing chamber100 shown is octagonal; however, those skilled in the art willunderstand that this is one possible shape and should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the disclosure. The gas distribution assemblies120 shown are trapezoidal, but can be a single circular component ormade up of a plurality of pie-shaped segments, like that shown in FIG.2.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 includes a load lock chamber 180, or anauxiliary chamber like a buffer station. This chamber 180 is connectedto a side of the processing chamber 100 to allow, for example thesubstrates (also referred to as substrates 60) to be loaded/unloadedfrom the chamber 100. A wafer robot may be positioned in the chamber 180to move the substrate onto the susceptor.

Rotation of the carousel (e.g., the susceptor assembly 140) can becontinuous or intermittent (discontinuous). In continuous processing,the wafers are constantly rotating so that they are exposed to each ofthe injectors in turn. In discontinuous processing, the wafers can bemoved to the injector region and stopped, and then to the region 84between the injectors and stopped. For example, the carousel can rotateso that the wafers move from an inter-injector region across theinjector (or stop adjacent the injector) and on to the nextinter-injector region where the carousel can pause again. Pausingbetween the injectors may provide time for additional processing stepsbetween each layer deposition (e.g., exposure to plasma).

FIG. 4 shows a sector or portion of a gas distribution assembly 220,which may be referred to as an injector unit 122. The injector units 122can be used individually or in combination with other injector units.For example, as shown in FIG. 5, four of the injector units 122 of FIG.4 are combined to form a single gas distribution assembly 220. (Thelines separating the four injector units are not shown for clarity.)While the injector unit 122 of FIG. 4 has both a first reactive gas port125 and a second gas port 135 in addition to purge gas ports 155 andvacuum ports 145, an injector unit 122 does not need all of thesecomponents.

Referring to both FIGS. 4 and 5, a gas distribution assembly 220 inaccordance with one or more embodiment may comprise a plurality ofsectors (or injector units 122) with each sector being identical ordifferent. The gas distribution assembly 220 is positioned within theprocessing chamber and comprises a plurality of elongate gas ports 125,135, 145 in a front surface 121 of the gas distribution assembly 220.The plurality of elongate gas ports 125, 135, 145, 155 extend from anarea adjacent the inner peripheral edge 123 toward an area adjacent theouter peripheral edge 124 of the gas distribution assembly 220. Theplurality of gas ports shown include a first reactive gas port 125, asecond gas port 135, a vacuum port 145 which surrounds each of the firstreactive gas ports and the second reactive gas ports and a purge gasport 155.

With reference to the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 or 5, when statingthat the ports extend from at least about an inner peripheral region toat least about an outer peripheral region, however, the ports can extendmore than just radially from inner to outer regions. The ports canextend tangentially as vacuum port 145 surrounds reactive gas port 125and reactive gas port 135. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, thewedge shaped reactive gas ports 125, 135 are surrounded on all edges,including adjacent the inner peripheral region and outer peripheralregion, by a vacuum port 145.

Referring to FIG. 4, as a substrate moves along path 127, each portionof the substrate surface is exposed to the various reactive gases. Tofollow the path 127, the substrate will be exposed to, or “see”, a purgegas port 155, a vacuum port 145, a first reactive gas port 125, a vacuumport 145, a purge gas port 155, a vacuum port 145, a second gas port 135and a vacuum port 145. Thus, at the end of the path 127 shown in FIG. 4,the substrate has been exposed to the first reactive gas 125 and thesecond reactive gas 135 to form a layer. The injector unit 122 shownmakes a quarter circle but could be larger or smaller. The gasdistribution assembly 220 shown in FIG. 5 can be considered acombination of four of the injector units 122 of FIG. 4 connected inseries.

The injector unit 122 of FIG. 4 shows a gas curtain 150 that separatesthe reactive gases. The term “gas curtain” is used to describe anycombination of gas flows or vacuum that separate reactive gases frommixing. The gas curtain 150 shown in FIG. 4 comprises the portion of thevacuum port 145 next to the first reactive gas port 125, the purge gasport 155 in the middle and a portion of the vacuum port 145 next to thesecond gas port 135. This combination of gas flow and vacuum can be usedto prevent or minimize gas phase reactions of the first reactive gas andthe second reactive gas.

Referring to FIG. 5, the combination of gas flows and vacuum from thegas distribution assembly 220 form a separation into a plurality ofprocess regions 250. The process regions are roughly defined around theindividual gas ports 125, 135 with the gas curtain 150 between 250. Theembodiment shown in FIG. 5 makes up eight separate process regions 250with eight separate gas curtains 150 between. A processing chamber canhave at least two process regions. In some embodiments, there are atleast three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11 or 12 processregions.

During processing a substrate may be exposed to more than one processregion 250 at any given time. However, the portions that are exposed tothe different process regions will have a gas curtain separating thetwo. For example, if the leading edge of a substrate enters a processregion including the second gas port 135, a middle portion of thesubstrate will be under a gas curtain 150 and the trailing edge of thesubstrate will be in a process region including the first reactive gasport 125.

A factory interface 280, which can be, for example, a load lock chamber,is shown connected to the processing chamber 100. A substrate 60 isshown superimposed over the gas distribution assembly 220 to provide aframe of reference. The substrate 60 may often sit on a susceptorassembly to be held near the front surface 121 of the gas distributionplate 120. The substrate 60 is loaded via the factory interface 280 intothe processing chamber 100 onto a substrate support or susceptorassembly (see FIG. 3). The substrate 60 can be shown positioned within aprocess region because the substrate is located adjacent the firstreactive gas port 125 and between two gas curtains 150 a, 150 b.Rotating the substrate 60 along path 127 will move the substratecounter-clockwise around the processing chamber 100. Thus, the substrate60 will be exposed to the first process region 250 a through the eighthprocess region 250 h, including all process regions between.

Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to processing methodscomprising a processing chamber 100 with a plurality of process regions250 a-250 h with each process region separated from an adjacent regionby a gas curtain 150. For example, the processing chamber shown in FIG.5. The number of gas curtains and process regions within the processingchamber can be any suitable number depending on the arrangement of gasflows. The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 has eight gas curtains 150 andeight process regions 250 a-250 h.

A plurality of substrates 60 are positioned on a substrate support, forexample, the susceptor assembly 140 shown FIGS. 1 and 2. The pluralityof substrates 60 are rotated around the process regions for processing.Generally, the gas curtains 150 are engaged (gas flowing and vacuum on)throughout processing including periods when no reactive gas is flowinginto the chamber.

In some embodiments, the ALD susceptors are mounted directly on thepedestal and there is no adjustment to level the susceptor to injector.Parallelism of less than about 0.1 mm is minimized by external meanslike shims or manual adjustments. The susceptor mounts on a stack of twostainless steel plates bolted to a motor shaft. The top plate isgenerally a thermal barrier plate (˜25 mm thick) and the bottom plate isgenerally a torque plate (˜15 mm thick) which has press-fit dowel pins.The dowel pins are used to center and torque the susceptor.

In some embodiments, kinematic mounts in the thermal barrier plate at,for example, bolt circle diameter of 100 mm are used to adjust theparallelism. The kinematic mount studs, which may have ball ends, can bemade of a stainless steel stud with a hex socket and a counter bore. Thestuds can have fine threads (˜40 tpi) to allow fine resolution duringadjustment.

In some embodiments, to prevent galling of studs in stainless steelplates, a coating, for example Nitronic® 60, can be applied to thestuds. As centering is performed with a center pin in a tightlycontrolled hole in the susceptor, a standard kinematic mount base havinga flat vee-cone shape will over-constrain the leveling mechanism.Therefore, the embodiments of the disclosure advantageously providemount bases that make use of a flat surface of the hardened torqueplate.

In some embodiments, coated helicoil inserts are used in the torqueplate to prevent galling. Some embodiments of the disclosureadvantageously provide a kinematic mount mechanism with increasedstability. Some embodiments advantageously provide kinematic mounts withdistortion free mounting. One or more embodiments advantageously provideremovable and/or repeatable re-positioning.

For example, a one meter diameter susceptor is extremely heavy ˜50 kg)and can give enough preload for the kinematic mounts with minimumbacklash during leveling. The susceptor mounted on a 100 mm kinematicbolt circle, with an adjustment of just a couple of mils (0.001″) canmagnify greater than or equal to about 10× at the outer diameter of thesusceptor or about 5× at the wafer center. The adjustments are enough tocompensate for axial runout of the susceptor.

A susceptor application with wafer chucking capability has been testedwith shims that are a couple of mils thick without allowing a largevacuum leak between the plates or wafer chucking. Once the kinematicfine adjustment was done with an allen-wrench (with long handle) to bestlevel, three integrated lock down M6 screws were used to lock thesusceptor leveling down to prevent any movement during processing andindexing movements of the susceptor. Each of three M6 screws providedabout 2000 lbs of clamping force. A laser based Keyence displacementsensor mounted on the chamber was used to provide feedback to check theleveling. The kinematic mounts of various embodiments of the disclosurecan be used for fine leveling to make the susceptor top surface parallelto the injector plane (e.g., to within ˜0.1 mm). In some embodiments,there are three kinematic mounts. In some embodiments, the threads ofthe kinematic mounts are 40 pitch threads which can be used to finelevel the susceptor. In one or more embodiments, the susceptor allowsaccess to the kinematic mounts to make adjustments of the thermalbarrier and torque plates to level the susceptor.

Referring to FIGS. 6-8, one or more embodiments of the disclosure aredirected to pedestal assemblies 300 comprising a thermal barrier plate310 and a torque plate 330. FIG. 6 shows an exploded view of a pedestalassembly 300 with the thermal barrier plate 310 and torque plate 330separated.

The thermal barrier plate 310 has a top surface 312 and a bottom surface314 that define a thickness of the thermal barrier plate 310. Thethermal barrier plate 310 can have a sidewall 313 or can have the topand bottom surfaces connect directly. The thermal barrier plate 310shown is a generally disk-shaped component with a plurality of openingsand/or recesses therein. The various openings and recesses can be usedto pass components through the thickness of the thermal barrier plate310 and/or to align the thermal barrier plate 310 with other components.A center opening 316 extends through the thickness of the thermalbarrier plate 310 at a center of the thermal barrier plate 310. Thecenter opening 316 can be used to align the center of the thermalbarrier plate 310 with the center of other components; for example, thetorque plate 330. In some embodiments, there is no center opening 316 inthe thermal barrier plate 310.

The thermal barrier plate 310 includes at least one torque opening 317extending through at least the bottom surface 314 of the thermal barrierplate 310. The embodiment of FIG. 6 has three torque openings 317 shown.The left-most torque opening 317 extends from the bottom surface 314part-way through the thickness of the thermal barrier plate 310 and doesnot form an opening in the top surface 312. The other torque openings317 shown pass completely through the thickness of the thermal barrierplate 310 from the bottom surface 314 to the top surface 312 and formsan opening in both surfaces.

The thermal barrier plate 310 also includes at least one leveling hole320 in the thickness of the thermal barrier plate 310. Each of theleveling holes 320 are located a distance from the center 315 and thecenter opening 316. The distance from the center 315 can be varied foreach of the leveling holes 320, or each can be located at about the samedistance from the center 320. The distance between the center 315 andthe leveling hole 320 of some embodiments is in the range of about 5% toabout 75% of the distance between the center 315 and the sidewall 313 ofthe thermal barrier plate 310. In some embodiments, the distance betweenthe center 315 and the leveling hole 320 is in the range of about 10% toabout 60%, or in the range of about 15% to about 50%, or in the range ofabout 20% to about 40% of the distance between the center 315 and thesidewall 313.

The thermal barrier plate 310 can be made from any suitable material. Insome embodiments, the thermal barrier plate 310 is made from stainlesssteel.

The torque plate 330 is below the thermal barrier plate 310. The torqueplate 330 has a top surface 332, a bottom surface 334 defining athickness and a sidewall 333. A center opening 336 is located in thecenter 335 of the torque plate 330 and extends through the thickness ofthe torque plate 330. The center opening 336 can be used to align thecenter of the thermal barrier plate 330 with the center of othercomponents; for example, the thermal barrier plate 310. In someembodiments, there is no center opening 336 in the torque plate 330.

At least one torque rod 340 extends from the top surface 332 of thetorque plate 330 and is aligned with the at least one torque opening 317in the thermal barrier plate 310. The torque rod 340 allows rotation ofthe torque plate 330 to cause rotation of the thermal barrier plate 310.The torque rod 340 shown on the left in FIG. 6 extends from a torqueopening 337 in the torque plate 330. The torque opening 337 extends fromthe top surface 332 of the torque plate 330 a distance into thethickness of the torque plate 330 without passing through the torqueplate. The torque rod 340 on the right side of the center 335 of thetorque plate 330 passes through a torque opening 337 that extendsthrough the thickness of the torque plate 340. The torque rod 340 isconnected to the bottom surface 334 of the torque plate 330 using afastener 341 (e.g., bolts). The fastener 341 of some embodiments is abolt and also includes a washer to add lock protection to prevent thebolt from backing out. In some embodiments, the washer is a lock washer.In some embodiments, the washer is a Belleville washer. The Bellevillewasher (also known as a coned-disc spring, conical spring washer, orcupped spring washer) can be a single disk, parallel, series orseries-parallel configurations. The Belleville washer can allow verticalspacing in the holes for the fasteners.

The torque plate 330 can be made from any suitable material. In someembodiments, the torque plate 330 is made from a material comprisingstainless steel.

Some embodiments of the disclosure are directed to susceptor assemblies,as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The susceptor assembly of some embodimentscomprises a susceptor 380, a thermal barrier plate 310 and a torqueplate 330. The susceptor 380 can have a top surface 382 and a bottomsurface 384 defining a susceptor thickness. A plurality of recesses 142are formed in the top surface 382 of the susceptor 380 and are sized tosupport a substrate during processing.

Some embodiments of the susceptor 380 include a center opening 386 thatextends from the bottom surface 384. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7and 8, the center opening 386 extends through the thickness of thesusceptor 380 from the bottom surface 384 to the top surface 382. Thecenter opening 386 of the susceptor can be used to align the center ofthe susceptor 380 with other components (e.g., thermal barrier plate310).

The susceptor 380 can be made from any suitable material. In someembodiments, the susceptor 380 comprises graphite.

The susceptor 380 can include at least one susceptor torque opening 387that extends from the bottom surface 384 of the susceptor. In theembodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8, the susceptor torque opening 387 extendspartially through the thickness of the susceptor 380. In someembodiments, the susceptor torque opening 387 extends through thethickness of the susceptor 380 from the bottom surface 384 to the topsurface 382. The susceptor torque openings 387 may be sized and alignedto allow a torque rod 340 to be positioned within the opening 387. Thetorque rod 340 can be used to cause the susceptor 380 to be rotated withthe torque rod 340 is moved.

In some embodiments, the susceptor 380 includes at least one levelinghole 389. The leveling holes 389 extend through the thickness of thesusceptor 380 to allow access to a kinetic mount assembly 350 below thesusceptor 380. The number of leveling holes 389 in the susceptor 380 canbe more than, equal to, or less than the number of kinetic mountassemblies 350.

As shown in FIGS. 7-11, the pedestal assembly 300 includes at least onekinematic mount assembly 350. The kinematic mount assembly 350 ispositioned within at least one of the leveling holes 320 in the thermalbarrier plate 310. The kinematic mount assembly 350 comprises a mountingstud 360 and a lockdown screw 370.

Referring to FIG. 9, the mounting stud 360 has an inner surface 361, anouter surface 362 and a length L defined by a top surface 363 and abottom surface 364. The mounting stud 360 is sized to fit within theleveling hole 320.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the inner surface 361 of the mountingstud 360 has an upper portion 365 and a lower portion 366. The upperportion 365 and lower portion 366 of the embodiment shown have differentdiameters with the upper portion 365 having a larger diameter than thelower portion 366.

The lower portion 366 of the mounting stud 360 may include screw threads367 on the inner surface 361. The pitch of the screw threads 367 can bechanged to allow for fine movement of a screw passing through themounting stud 360. In some embodiments, the pitch of the screw threads367 is in the range of about 25 to about 50.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 9, there is a horizontal ledge 368separating the upper portion 365 and the lower portion 366. Thehorizontal ledge 368 can provide a physical barrier to prevent a head371 of a lockdown screw 370 from passing. As shown in FIG. 11, the head371 of the lockdown screw 370 may have a diameter that is larger thanthe diameter of the lower portion 366 of the mounting stud 360 and thehorizontal ledge 368 prevents the head 371 from moving past thehorizontal ledge 368.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 11, the outer surface 362 of themounting stud 360 includes outer screw threads 369. The leveling hole320 in the thermal barrier plate 310 comprises screw threads 319 thatare complementary to the outer screw threads 369 of the mounting stud360. The mounting stud 360 can be moved into and out of the levelinghole 320 by turning the mounting stud 360. The mounting stud 360 can beturned by any suitable tool including, but not limited to, a hex key.For example, the mounting stud 360 shown in FIGS. 9 and 11 have a hexopening in the top of the mounting stud 360 which serves as both theupper portion 365 and provides a physical component to interact with thetool.

The mounting stud 360 can be positioned so that the top 372 is levelwith, above or below the top surface 312 of the thermal barrier plate310. For example, the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 has the top 372 of themounting stud 360 about level with the top surface 312 of the thermalbarrier plate 310. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the top 372 ofthe mounting stud 360 is below the top surface 312 of the thermalbarrier plate 310. In the embodiment shown, the leveling hole 320 in thethermal barrier plate 310 is shaped to prevent the mounting stud 360from moving upward to the top surface 312 of the thermal barrier plate310.

With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, some embodiments of the kinetic mountassembly 350 include a lockdown screw 370. The lockdown screw 370 can bepositioned to contact the inner surface 361 of the mounting stud 360.The lockdown screw 370 is configured to move along the length of themounting stud 360 when the lockdown screw is turned. The lockdown screw370 can be turned by any suitable tool including, but not limited to, ahex key.

The lockdown screw 370 has a lower surface 373 that interacts with thetorque plate 330 to change the plane of the top surface of the thermalbarrier plate 310. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the lockdownscrew 370 has a lower surface 373 with a convex shape and the torqueplate 330 further comprises a recess 374 aligned with and sized tocooperatively interact with the lower surface 373 of the lockdown screw370. The recess 374 can be, for example, a concave recess, and elongateconcave recess, an elongate v-shaped groove, to allow the lower surface373 of the lockdown screw 370 to move in multiple directions whencontacting the recess 374.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 11, the recess 374 is a hole thatpasses through the torque plate 330 and has an insert 375 to interactwith the lower surface 373 of the lockdown screw 370. The insert can bemade from any suitable material including, but not limited to, Nitronic®60 (a mixture of Cr, Mn, Ni, Si, N, C and Fe).

In some embodiments, the pedestal assembly 300 includes at least threekinematic mount assemblies 350 and/or at least three mounting studs 360.Three kinematic mount assemblies 350 can provide three dimensionalcontrol of the plane formed by the top surface of the thermal barrierplate 310 to level the susceptor 380.

In some embodiments, there are at least three mounting studs 360 witheach mounting stud 360 positioned in a different leveling hole 320 inthe thermal barrier plate 310. The at least three leveling holes 320 inthe thermal barrier plate 310 can be positioned equidistant from thecenter 315 of the thermal barrier plate 310 or can be at differentdistances from the center 315.

In some embodiments, there are at least three torque pins 340 that passthrough the thermal barrier plate 310 to extend a distance above the topsurface of the thermal barrier plate 310. In some embodiments, thetorque pins 340 are sized to be within the body of the susceptor 380 sothat a top of the torque pin 340 is not visible at the top surface 382of the susceptor 380.

Referring again to FIGS. 7 and 8, some embodiments further comprise asupport post 395 connected to the torque plate 330. In the embodiment ofFIG. 8, the support post 395 is connected to the torque plate 330 withfasteners 396 passing through a flange 397 on the support post 395.

In one or more embodiments, the support post 395 includes a centeringpillar 398. The centering pillar 398 can be integrally formed with thesupport post 395, as shown in FIG. 8, or can be a separate component, asshown in FIG. 7. The centering pillar 398 can pass through the centerhole 336 in the torque plate 330 and into the center hole 316 of thethermal barrier plate 310. In some embodiments, the centering pillar 398passes through the thermal barrier plate 310 and into the center opening386 of the susceptor 380.

Referring to FIG. 8, one or more embodiments of the disclosure aredirected to methods of leveling a susceptor 380 relative to a gasdistribution assembly 120. The method can be used to make the planeformed by the top surface 382 of the susceptor 380 be parallel with theplane formed by the front surface 121 of the gas distribution assembly120.

In some embodiments, the method comprises turning a lockdown screw 370to move the lockdown screw 370 within a mounting stud 360 of a kinematicmount assembly 350. The movement of the lockdown screw 370 causes arelative change in distance between a thermal barrier plate 310connected to the kinematic mount assembly 350 and a torque plate 330, sothat a plane formed by a top surface 312 of the thermal barrier plate310 tilts relative to a plane formed by a top surface 332 of the torqueplate 330. When a susceptor 380 is positioned on the thermal barrierplate 310, the tilting of the plane formed by the top surface causes thesusceptor 380 to tilt and the plane formed by the top surface 382 of thesusceptor to tilt. Adjusting multiple kinematic mount assemblies 350 canbe used to change the tile of the susceptor 380 in three dimensions.

In some embodiments, the lockdown screw 370 is accessed through aleveling opening 389 in the susceptor 380. The leveling openings 389 canbe positioned above or aligned with the thermal barrier plate 310 andthe torque plate 330 so that a plane formed by the top surface 382 ofthe susceptor 380 tilts relative to the plane formed by the top surfaceof the torque plate 330.

In use, one or more cameras 399 are used to measure the distance betweenthe gas distribution assembly 120 and the susceptor 380. The camera 399has a field of view that allows for the measurement of the spacingbetween the surfaces. When measurement of the space between thesusceptor 380 and the gas distribution assembly 120 at multiplelocations (e.g., three locations) shows a difference that affects theparallelism of the susceptor plane and the gas distribution assemblyplane, the kinematic mount assemblies 350 can be used. The user canpass, for example, a hex key through the leveling opening 389 of thesusceptor 380 and into the kinematic mount assembly 350 located in thethermal barrier plate 310. The hex key can be used to turn a lockdownscrew 370 in a mounting stud 360 to move the screw within the mountingstud. Lower the screw can result in the bottom edge of the screwpressing against the torque plate 330 to increase the distance betweenthe thermal barrier plate 310 and the torque plate 330 at the positionof the kinematic mount assembly 350. When the kinematic mount assembly350 is located near the center of the susceptor, small changes in theposition of the lockdown screw 370 can cause large differences in thespacing between components near the edges.

Adjusting the kinematic mount assembly 350 to level the susceptor 380can form a small gap between the thermal barrier plate 310 and thetorque plate 330. The gap is typically less than about 2 mil; smallenough not to result in gross chucking vacuum leaks as small leaks maybe tolerable in chucking wafers in carousel batch processing chambers.In some embodiments, a vacuum bellow (not shown) can be installed belowthe thermal barrier plate 310 to prevent chucking vacuum pressure loss.

The user can make adjustments to the kinematic mount assemblies 350multiple times and take multiple measurements using, for example, thecamera until a sufficiently uniform spacing, or parallelism, isobtained. While the measurements are described as being performed with acamera, those skilled in the art will understand that other distancemeasurement devices and techniques can be used.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “certainembodiments,” “one or more embodiments” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described inconnection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment ofthe disclosure. Thus, the appearances of the phrases such as “in one ormore embodiments,” “in certain embodiments,” “in one embodiment” or “inan embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are notnecessarily referring to the same embodiment of the disclosure.Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

Although the disclosure herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thepresent disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious modifications and variations can be made to the method andapparatus of the present disclosure without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the presentdisclosure include modifications and variations that are within thescope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pedestal assembly comprising: a thermal barrierplate with a top surface and a bottom surface defining a thickness, acenter opening extends through the thickness of the thermal barrierplate at a center of the thermal barrier plate, at least one torqueopening extending through at least the bottom surface of the thermalbarrier plate, and at least one leveling hole extending through thethickness of the thermal barrier plate, the at least one leveling holelocated a distance from the center opening; a torque plate below thethermal barrier plate, the torque plate having a top surface and abottom surface defining a thickness, a center opening extending throughthe thickness of the torque plate, at least one torque rod extendingfrom the top surface of the torque plate, the at least one torque rodaligned with the at least one torque opening in the thermal barrierplate; and at least one kinematic mount assembly positioned within atleast one leveling hole in the thermal barrier plate, the kinematicmount assembly comprising a mounting stud having an inner surface, anouter surface and a length defined by a top surface and a bottomsurface, the mounting stud sized to fit within the leveling hole, thekinematic mount assembly including a lockdown screw positioned tocontact the inner surface of the mounting stud and move along the lengthof the mounting stud.
 2. The pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein thetop surface of the mounting stud is below the top surface of the thermalbarrier.
 3. The pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein the inner surfaceof the mounting stud has an upper portion and a lower portion, the upperportion having a larger diameter than the lower portion.
 4. The pedestalassembly of claim 3, wherein the lower portion of the inner surface ofthe mounting stud comprises screw threads.
 5. The pedestal assembly ofclaim 4, wherein the screw threads of the lower portion have a pitch inthe range of about 25 to about
 50. 6. The pedestal assembly of claim 4,wherein there is a horizontal ledge separating the upper portion and thelower portion, the horizontal ledge providing a physical barrier toprevent a head of the lockdown screw with a diameter larger than thediameter of the lower portion from moving past the horizontal ledge. 7.The pedestal assembly of claim 4, wherein the outer surface of themounting stud comprises outer screw threads and the leveling hole in thethermal barrier plate comprises screw threads complementary to the outerscrew threads of the mounting stud.
 8. The pedestal assembly of claim 1,wherein the lockdown screw has a lower surface with a convex shape andthe torque plate further comprises a recess aligned with and sized tocooperatively interact with the lower surface of the lockdown screw. 9.The pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein there are at least threemounting studs, each mounting stud in a different leveling hole in thethermal barrier plate.
 10. The pedestal assembly of claim 1, wherein atleast three torque pins pass through the thermal barrier plate to extenda distance above the top surface of the thermal barrier plate.
 11. Thepedestal assembly of claim 1, further comprising a support postconnected to the torque plate.
 12. The pedestal assembly of claim 11,wherein the support post includes a centering pillar that passes throughthe center hole of the torque plate and the center hole of the thermalbarrier plate.
 13. A susceptor assembly comprising: a susceptor having atop surface and a bottom surface defining a thickness, the susceptorhaving a plurality of recesses formed in the top surface sized tosupport a substrate for processing, a center opening extends from thebottom surface of the susceptor at least partially through thethickness, at least one susceptor torque opening extending from thebottom surface of the susceptor and at least three susceptor levelingholes extends through the thickness of the susceptor; a thermal barrierplate with a top surface and a bottom surface defining a thickness, thetop surface of the thermal barrier plate positioned adjacent to thebottom surface of the susceptor, a center opening extends through thethickness of the thermal barrier plate at a center of the thermalbarrier plate, at least one torque opening extending through thethickness of the thermal barrier plate and is aligned with the at leastone susceptor torque opening, and at least three leveling holesextending through the thickness of the thermal barrier plate, eachleveling hole aligned with a leveling hole in the susceptor; a torqueplate below the thermal barrier plate, the torque plate having a topsurface and a bottom surface defining a thickness, a center openingextends through the thickness of the torque plate and is aligned withthe center opening in the thermal barrier plate, at least one torque rodextends from the torque plate through the at least one torque opening inthe thermal barrier plate and into the at least one susceptor torqueopening; and at least three kinematic mount assemblies, each kinematicmount assembly positioned in different leveling holes in the thermalbarrier plate, each kinematic mount assembly comprising a mounting studhaving an inner surface, an outer surface and a length defined by a topsurface and a bottom surface, the mounting stud sized to fit within theleveling hole, the kinematic mount assembly including a lockdown screwpositioned to contact the inner surface of the mounting stud and movealong the length of the mounting stud.
 14. The susceptor assembly ofclaim 13, wherein the inner surface of each mounting stud has an upperportion and a lower portion separated by a horizontal ledge, the upperportion having a larger diameter than the lower portion, the horizontalledge providing a physical barrier to prevent a head of the lockdownscrew from passing horizontal ledge.
 15. The susceptor assembly of claim14, wherein the lower portion of the inner surface of the mounting studcomprises screw threads.
 16. The susceptor assembly of claim 15, whereinthe screw threads of the lower portion have a pitch in the range ofabout 25 to about
 50. 17. The susceptor assembly of claim 14, whereinthe outer surface of the mounting stud comprises outer screw threads andthe leveling hole in the thermal barrier plate comprises screw threadscomplementary to the outer screw threads of the mounting stud.
 18. Thesusceptor assembly of claim 14, wherein the lockdown screw has a lowersurface with a convex shape and the torque plate further comprises arecess aligned with and sized to cooperatively interact with the lowersurface of the lockdown screw.
 19. A method of leveling a susceptor, themethod comprising turning a lockdown screw to move the lockdown screwwithin a mounting stud of a kinematic mount assembly, wherein movementof the lockdown screw causes a relative change in distance between athermal barrier plate connected to the kinematic mount assembly and atorque plate, so that a plane formed by a top surface of the thermalbarrier plate tilts relative to a plane formed by a top surface of thetorque plate.
 20. The method of claims 19, further comprising accessingthe lockdown screw through a leveling opening in a susceptor positionedabove the thermal barrier plate and the torque plate so that a planeformed by a top surface of the susceptor tilts relative to the planeformed by the top surface of the torque plate.